The Seven Circles
by Winged Blade
Summary: After the final battle with Naraku, Kagome struggles with fate.


Prologue  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.  
  
Frozen blades pierced through the skin of the young woman as she fell into the rapids of the river below. After the moments of shock, the girl managed to break through the surface of the water, gasping for breath as the currents carried her hurriedly downstream, which would inevitably lead to a fifty-foot waterfall in the closing distance.  
  
"Kagome!" yelled the hanyou from his place far above the water. The half-breed could barely move, so deep were his wounds from the final battle with Naraku. "Kagome...no..."  
  
Blackness met the dog demon, and soon the pain was no longer.  
  
***  
  
Salt water came spewing from Kagome's mouth as she came to, a thundering pain striking through her head. The river kept its course up, crashing against her legs, as they were in the water's path. For a few moments, the drenched girl was clueless about the events that had taken place just short of an hour ago. Then she remembered.  
Kagome pushed herself off the ground and looked around at her new environment, almost as though she had never been brought low with pain. The young woman's attention was soon directed to the cliffs towering above. This wasn't the same place she and her allies had been fighting Naraku...was it?  
A discouraged look came over Kagome's face as realization set it. She buried her face in her hands.  
  
Naraku was on his last breaths. Unfortunately, he was still kicking. Inuyasha sprang forward with Tetsusaiga, attempting to slice his oponent in half, as he'd done many of his enemies before. Too bad for the dog demon, it didn't work this time. Naraku batted the sword to the side as if had been made of wood.  
Stunned that his attack didn't work this time, Inuyasha blinked blankly, which gave Naraku enough time to turn his attention to Kagome, who now possessed the majority of the Shikon no Tama shards. If he could just grab those now, while the mutt was distracted, he would be unstoppable...  
Seeing the almost disembowled man rushing for her, Kagome froze in terror, unable to use the bow and arrow she had at the ready in her calm hands. But only for a moment. Naraku reached the girl and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground and moving her to the edge of the cliff, where he held her, the only thing beneath her feet being the rushing water below.  
"This is the end, reincarnation of Kikyo," muttered Naraku, his dark eyes burning holes through Kagome's as he reached for the jewel that hung around the girl's neck.  
"Kagome!" Inuyasha tried to move forward to attack Naraku from behind, but wounds that had been dealt to him throughout the battle were, for some reason, suddenly bringing him low. And even if he could attack from behind, Kagome would be dropped to her death.  
Choking, and damned near turning blue, Kagome said calmly, with tears in her eyes, "You're right. This is the end. Naraku, may the flames of hell eat you alive, if you are even worthy of such a subtle punishment."  
WIth that final judgment, Kagome fired the arrow from the bow that she'd been holding, sending it clear through Naraku's body. Light began to spring forth from the arrow as it pierced through the evil being's body, taking whatever life had remained in Naraku's body and sending it on to the next world.  
Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango all watched in awe as the orb of light began to expand, engulfing Naraku's entire body. When the light reached the source of darkness, it exploded, sending Kagome down into the waters below.  
  
Kagome lifted her head from her hands. She had done right, right? She'd rid the world of a greater evil. Her hand reached up and grasped the jewel around her neck, and Kagome had to do a double take. She looked down at what she'd thought to be three-fourths of the Shikon jewel. Instead, in her hand, she was holding the whole thing.  
Being so close to Naraku when he was defeated must have given the shards a chance to fuse together, thought Kagome. And having all the jewel shards must have kept me alive after I fell.  
Kagome found herself to be rubbing the Shikon no Tama between her fingers, as if she couldn't really believe that she had the whole thing, which was understandable, because she didn't. Upon finding a small groove where the jewel seemed to have been broken, Kagome realized there were about three shards missing, and those belonged to her one-and-only-devoted- to-her-for-life wolf demon. A tiny smile crossed her face at the thought of him.  
And the smile quickly faded as she remembered how she'd left her one- and-only-beloved dog demon and her friends back on the cliff. She didn't have a minute to lose. Kagome knew that Miroku and Sango would drag Inuyasha (as bad as his injuries were) back to the village and probably put him back in the hut with scrolls pasted all over to prevent the persistent dog from leaving. To prevent him from causing anyone any trouble, she'd have to hurry back to let him know she was okay.  
Because I know he really does care, Kagome thought, the small smile working its way back onto her lips.  
Without another thought, Kagome set off to find a way to rejoin her group on the other side of the river. 


End file.
